Richard Satchwell sold his wife's most treasured possessions at car boot sale weeks after she went missing, court told

Tina Satchwell: Court heard Richard Satchwell was selling her Doc Marten boots and her beloved Juicy Couture bag.

“I want to remember Tina the way she was, not the way I made her,” murder-accused Richard Satchwell told gardaí, refusing to view photos of his dead wife's remains.

Tina Satchwell’s body had been exhumed from a shallow, sandy grave in their East Cork home in May 2023, more than six years after she disappeared.

Her husband was arrested for her murder but told gardaí in a recorded interview at Cobh Garda Station he "respectfully" asked not to be "put in that situation".

Tina Satchwell’s beloved dog Ruby was “distressed” and “trying to get away” from Mr Satchwell, who was selling his wife’s most treasured possessions at a car boot sale weeks after she disappeared in 2017, the Central Criminal Court also heard on Thursday.

Sarah Dobson, a friend of Mrs Satchwell, said she met Mr Satchwell at a car boot sale in Blarney, Co Cork, on the Monday of the May bank holiday weekend in 2017.

“I told him Tina would kill him for selling all her stuff,” she said.

“Their dog Ruby was distressed, hoping around, trying to get away from him,” she said in her statement.

She took the dog for a while and when she went to return her, Ruby “didn’t want to go back to him”. 

Mr Satchwell reported his wife missing to gardaí on March 24, 2017. Her decomposing remains were found by gardaí more than six years later buried in a shallow grave in their Youghal home.

After her remains were found, he told gardaí his wife attacked him with a chisel and he held a belt to her neck in self-defence, after which she fell down dead into his arms.

“Richard Satchwell had a blanket on the floor selling stuff — her clothes, boots and bag,” at the car boot sale in May 2017, Ms Dobson said.

This included Mrs Satchwell's black Doc Marten boots with red flowers on them, jeans and a jacket.

Richard Satchwell told Tina's friend he had to raise money for repairs to the couple's home and was only getting six hours sleep a night due to all the work he had to do. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

But nothing of Mr Satchwell’s was for sale, Ms Dobson said.

Mrs Satchwell’s beloved Juicy Couture bag was also for sale.

This was “very strange” because Mrs Satchwell “loved it”, always carried it and “even bought a matching carrier bag for the dog”. 

Mr Satchwell said his wife was “very ill”, had been in hospital for weeks, and had lost about four stone in weight.

She was in England with her sister and could not return until he fixed a wall in their home, he told her.

A bacteria in their home had made Mrs Satchwell sick and had caused the death of their parrot, he said.

“He told me he needed between €80,000 to €100,000 to fix the house so she could come home.

“That’s why he told us he was selling the stuff.

He told her he had to work to raise money for the repairs and was only getting six hours sleep a night due to all the work he had to do.

Ms Dobson said she had sold Ruby to the couple when they first met at a car boot sale.

She kept “in close contact” with Mrs Satchwell since that first meeting, she said.

“We would meet every other week at car boot sales in Rathcormac and Castletownroche,” she said in a statement read to the court by prosecuting barrister Gerardine Small SC.

But when they moved from Fermoy to Youghal, she “saw less of them”, as Mr Satchwell said Castletownroche was too far for them to drive to from Youghal.

She said she “knew Tina better” than her husband.

Forensic scientist's evidence

Brian Gorey, a forensic scientist from Forensic Science Ireland also gave evidence at Thursday's hearing.

He said the glass fragments found in Mrs Satchwell’s scalp and torso were from a “toughened glass” which had been treated with a chemical so it would not shatter.

Some of the 15 glass fragments found in Mrs Satchwell’s remains were “quite large”.

But there was “no inference” of the activity that led to glass being found on her body.

Sources of toughened glass include patio doors, car windows, table tops, and shower doors.

Finding 15 such fragments on a body was “very unusual,” he said.

It was “most likely” the fragments came from the one source, Mr Gorey said.

But because he was given no glass sources to compare the fragments to, it could not be ascertained what they came from.

Richard Satchwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife, Tina Satchwell, nee Dingivan, 45, at their home in Youghal in March 2017.

The trial continues.